Candles
by the-littlest-pumpkin
Summary: Seventh in Series. Once again, Santana is being forced to fraternize with the Glee club.  All she can do is threaten and bear it.


"Do we have to go?" Santana flopped back onto the bed, her legs flicking up into the air as she landed. It was the night of Rachel's party, and despite being dressed and almost ready to go, having already drank a fair amount, Santana wasn't going without a fight.

"Yes" the blonde insisted from her position by the mirror. Santana swivelled her head to watch the blonde, and pouted when they made eye contact in the mirror

"Why?"

"We agreed at Puck's barbeque. We're already half-drunk, and we said we'd go." She turned and stood to face the brunette who was sprawled on her bed

"But I don't want to; I haven't spoken to them in like, two weeks, and despite Finchel" she grimaced as she said the name "making me want to cry with their freaking tongue-tennis all over Lima, I'm happier than I've ever been!"

"I'm not sure if there's an insult in there somewhere. But either way, we promised we'd go at the end of school, and we said we'd be there at Puck's, and when I was in the hospital you promised you'd go without complaint!" she pouted and threw herself onto the bed next to Santana, with a smug grin

"No no no no no. Don't play that card. And I think you'll find I said I'd go without complaint _if_ you woke up then and there. And you didn't. So I'm going to complain and whine as much as I want" she smirked at the blonde with matching smugness and Brittany rolled her eyes

"No matter what you say, we are going. Besides, you look awesome in those jeans; don't you want to show off your smoking body?" she quirked an eyebrow as she started sorting through the mass of bags hung on her wardrobe door

"I'd rather show them a smoking firecracker. Why do you even want to go hang out in the Hobbit's basement with Finnept and Cripples and Berry's Broadway-horny parents?" she sat up and sighed, glaring at the blonde with a pout.

"Well, if Puck is to be trusted-" Santana snorted, and Brittany stepped over to the bed, straddling the brunette's legs and cupping her face, tilting it so the brunette was looking up at her "Berry's dads are away being Broadway-happy, and Puck's bringing the beer and some kind of weird home-made alcohol. And the whole Glee club will be there and I haven't seen Quinn since Puck's, and I want to go" she leaned in to give the shorter girl a slow kiss and Santana complied, pulled away after a few moments and biting her lip, thinking hard

"No parents. _ Definitely_ alcohol? Because if I'm going to spend this evening with a bunch of emotionally unstable, mentally imbalanced morons, I will _need _it" she looked up at the blonde, who rolled her eyes before hesitating. She was about to comment, before deciding better of it and nodding vigorously, "Okay fine! I'm in, but if I don't leave this party smelling like tequila or a brothel, I'm suing you." Brittany rolled her eyes and giggled before pulling Santana up from the bed. They pulled on their jackets and Santana grabbed her black fedora as Brittany dragged her out of the room and down the stairs. They called goodbye to the Peirces and left the house. It was still fairly warm and the light wouldn't fade for at least a couple of hours so they decided to walk to Rachel's house, chattering and gossiping on the way.

-ooOoo-

"Hey, guys! I'm so glad you could make it!" Santana visibly winced as Rachel pulled the door open with a wide grin, and Brittany smiled in return. They had met Quinn on the way in, meaning the brunette hadn't even been able to sneak a quick make-out before they arrived, leaving her disgruntled, and the other blonde was standing awkwardly at Santana's side, her look of dread almost mirroring Santana's "Come on in, straight down those stairs to your right, most people are already here. Hello, Quinn, you look lovely" Quinn nodded her thanks with a stony expression

Santana scowled "Don't worry, you look so much better" Brittany whispered in her ear before descending the stairs.

It was worse than she could have ever imagined. The party had only started just under an hour ago, but some people already seemed to be verging on drunk. Sam and Mike were taking part in a dance off in the middle of the floor as Mercedes and Tina gossiped on the couch near by. Finn and Puck seemed to be having a drinking contest, mediated by Artie, who currently had control of the iPod, and Puck was clearly winning, whilst Kurt was stood near the table of food, looking sceptical. Santana sighed and glanced at Quinn, who was stood beside her with a raised eyebrow. They abandoned their coats and Quinn took a deep breath

"I need a drink."

"Oh Q, I've never been more in favour of your latent alcoholism" Quinn glared and turned away, and Santana followed Quinn to the table of food and drinks as Brittany went to join Mike and Sam on the dance floor

"Hello, ladies. Long time, no see" Kurt greeted as they stepped up

"Hey, paste face" Santana nodded and Quinn rolled her eyes

"Nice to see you Kurt, how's things? And what drinks have we got?"

"Not bad." He replied, quickly bouncing back from the insult, and held up a bottle "And pretty much only beer and this. I'm working up my courage, I don't dare try it yet. Puck keeps trying to convince Rachel to let him bust open the liquor cabinet but no luck yet, I'll get Finn onto her in a minute"

Santana snorted "like they need the help..." she muttered, and Quinn elbowed her hard "I'll stick to beer for now then"

"Well, I'll take the bullet Kurt, I'm gonna try this stuff" Quinn took the bottle from him and poured a weak mixer, taking a gulp before coughing and grimacing

"So it's tasty then?" Santana smirked and Kurt slapped Quinn on the back

"Oh my God, I think I just drank gasoline" the blonde abandoned the drink and took the can Santana held out to her with a knowing look.

Santana left Quinn and Kurt talking about people's outfits and crossed to Puck "Hey, squirrel head! Firstly, if you don't get a haircut in the next week, I will personally shave your head" he scowled

"Nice to see you, too, Lopez, but who shoved a stick up your-"

"-and secondly, are we getting this party started or what? There are like, six beers left, and unless you find us all something better, I intends to drink them all myself"

"Dude, I've been trying! I've asked Rachel a million times, she says no." He shrugged and she rolled her eyes.

"Lame. Finnocence, go tell your girl to stop treating that liquor cabinet like her legs, and open up!" Finn stood with a vague frown and slightly terrified eyes, mouth agape, so Santana nodded wordlessly and turned on her heel, settling herself next to Mercedes on the couch. She watched Brittany dance with a satisfied smirk, and she noticed Finn and Puck talking to Rachel before hurrying upstairs. She did attempt to stay in the conversation with Tina and Mercedes, eventually joined by Artie, but her attention just kept wandering to the tall blonde's swaying hips. The bit her lip gently as she watched, before catching Quinn in her peripheral vision. The blonde's head was tilted to the side questioningly, and she was watching her with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. Santana cleared her throat, blushing at having been caught staring, and turned back, tuning in to the conversation.

Finn and Puck arrived back with various drinks a few minutes later, and everyone immediately rushed to get better drinks. She stared down the other Glee members to get her drinks first, and poured two large mixers for her and Brittany, and went to join the blonde on the dance floor. Most people joined them, with drinks and partners to grind on, and even Rachel started to loosen up eventually. However, this did mean that her antics with Finn became even less subtle, and Santana tried to avoid looking in their direction, focusing instead on the blonde in front of her; or rather, the body of the blonde in front of her.

It was in the midst of all the dancing and grinding that it happened. One moment there was loud music blaring, limbs entwined and flashing lights, next minute there was nothing but silence and darkness.

"Did I pass out?" Brittany frowned, as various people screamed. Everyone was reaching out and scrambling around in the pitch darkness, as talking volume increased and everyone attempted to get their bearings, and Santana took Brittany's hand, pulling her near in the darkness

"Dude, what's going on?" Sam backed against the wall

Oh God, as if this night couldn't get any worse. She was about to scream

"Mike, where are you?" Tina shrieked

"Wooah! Whose hand is that?"

Santana felt her stress level rising, and Brittany squeezed her hand.

"Oh, sorry, Quinn" Rachel mumbled

"Blackout!" Puck screamed

She took a breath, about to shout at everyone to shut the hell up, but suddenly a pair of lips met hers in the darkness "holy shit" she gasped against them, but Brittany squeezed her hand and placed her other hand on her ribcage, and she relaxed.

"Argh, oh my _God_, Artie that was my foot!"

"Sorry"

Just as she was about to kiss back, she felt the girl pull away, and groaned in objection, but the blonde leaned down to whisper "what if the lights come back on?" and she complied, somewhat dejectedly.

"What was that?"

"Oh hell no!"

There were more screams and complaints and confusion, and Santana finally spoke up "Oh my God, just get used to it! Finnept, make yourself useful and go upstairs, see if it's just _this _hobbit-hole or if all of the Shire is affected! Everyone, shut your freaking mouths before I go all Lima Heights. And it's dark, meaning my aim will be off and the ordeal will be a whole lot more painful. Any objections? Good. Now shut up and sit down." Everyone fumbled to find seats, or gave up and settled on the floor; or in Puck's case, fell to the floor where he previously stood. Once they all had found spaces, and the noises of Finn clumsily feeling his way through the house were decreasing, there was an awkward pause

"I know we're not allowed to talk..." Sam began cautiously, "But someone's touching me inappropriately"

"Who is it?" Tina chuckled

"Uh, Tina...where _are_ you?" Mike asked, panicked

"Down here" Came the voice from his feet

"Eew, man I'm so sorry!" Mike pulled his hand back, blushing, and Sam grimaced

"Dude!" Sam punched him on the arm and shifted away, nearly landing on Brittany's lap, who gave a small squeal

"Hey, Trouty Mouth!" Santana snapped "Back up, yeah? Get back over to your boyfriend. No me gusta"

They all chuckled and Santana squeezed Brittany's hand reassuringly, before she stood up to creep round in the dark; after all, what was a black-out without a little fun? She made sure to be as silent as possible as she crept around behind Sam

"Oh my God, what was that?" he leaned forward quickly and slapped the back of his neck

"What?" Mercedes snapped, immediately worried

"Nothing, it's nothing" he replied, as Brittany started to chuckle, masking the noise with a cough

She snuck round cautiously behind Puck, and gently felt her way through the air to the top of his head, tickling at his hair and causing him to let out a very high pitched scream

"What? What's going on?" This time it was Kurt, who immediately pulled his feet off the floor to kneel on the couch he was sat on, and gave a small squeal as Mercedes reached over and grabbed him. The blonde on the sofa buried her head in a cushion to keep her silence, well aware of Santana's actions.

Puck coughed and cleared his throat "Nothing, man. No worries" he replied with a fake casualness.

"Puck, that was you? I thought it was one of the girls" Mike laughed, and Puck sniffed, his jaw set

By this time Brittany was stuffing her fist into her mouth, biting down hard to stop her giggles, and Santana decided that her job was done. She was about to return to the couch when she noticed a bright sign above the stairs. She listened for Finn's footsteps and when she was greeted with silence she ran over to the stairs quietly, settling herself at the blonde's side a few seconds later as they heard Finn's slow footsteps on the stairs,

"Guys, it looks li-" he was cut off with a grunt as his head slammed into the ceiling and he groaned

"Oh, Finn watch out for the low ceiling! _Although_, there _is_ a sign!" Rachel called out

"It's a black-out, Berry" Quinn muttered

"Oh no, its glow in the dark, I placed glow-in-the-dark signs around the important places in the house for just such an occasion. There's one by the fuse box, above the exits, and above the stairs"

Santana pulled back her jacket slightly for Brittany to see the faint glow of the MIND YOUR HEAD sign, and the blonde grinned before Santana spoke "For the love of God, stop talking. Doughboy, I'm guessing it's a neighbourhood-wide phenomenon?" Santana cut them off, getting to the point

"Yeah looks like its all of Lima. I wonder how long it'll be" He replied uneasily, feeling his way over to Rachel and sitting on the floor beside her

"Well, there are some candles upstairs somewhere, I can go find them. And you know, we could always sing to-"

"Berry if you finish that sentence I will cut you a new vagina."

"Santana is that _really _necessary?" but Santana growled and Rachel immediately stopped, standing up "So, anyone want to come with me?"

Santana heard Finn open his mouth to offer "Oh no, I'm not sending you two out into the dark alone, you'll be gone for hours"

"What? Why? What are you talking about?" Rachel replied quickly "There's nothing going on-"

"Tell that to half the under-ten population of Lima whose minds you poisoned at the lake the other day" Quinn smirked, "I'll go, come on"

Brittany nudged Santana as the two girls left the room and Santana nodded with raised eyebrows. Even in the pitch dark she knew Brittany would understand, and the blonde's giggle indicated that she had.

"Santana did you just giggle?" Sam frowned

"No, that was me"

"Oh, good. That was really creepy for a minute" Santana scowled at him with narrow eyes, but of course Sam couldn't see that. Thankfully, not everyone had Brittany's intuition.

Everyone broke off into their own quiet conversations, and Santana felt a familiar hand creep across her leg, and gulped. Comfortable in the knowledge that the darkness would last, Brittany apparently had no qualms about inappropriate touching. She leaned over a tiny bit more, pressing her chest against Santana's arm, to trap the brunette's ear lobe between her teeth. Santana gasped and Mercedes turned her head in the darkness

"What was that? Satan, are you okay,?"

She coughed "Yeah, of course, sure" she stuttered, and felt Brittany's soft breath of laughter on her ear, causing her to shiver. She shifted and slid her hand onto Brittany's thigh, and the blonde leaned down for a slow kiss

"What's that noise?" Kurt's panicked voice called out, and Brittany pulled away quickly

"Probably the pipes or something" Artie's equally nervous voice replied, and Santana leaned up to close the gap again

"There it is again. Seriously what is that?" Santana's eyes widened and they broke apart. Brittany buried her head in Santana's shoulder to muffle her giggling

"Why? Scared, Puckerman?" Santana shot at him through her grin

"Nah, bruh, just looking out for Kurt and Artie, you know" he replied with macho bravado

"Sure, Puck" Mercedes rolled her eyes

By the time Quinn and Rachel returned, Santana was starting to get impatient with Brittany's cautiously wandering hands. She was sick of trying to be quiet, and now that everyone's terror had worn off, so had the fun. Rachel was carrying a fully lit menorah, and Puck grinned at the sight as she placed it on the low coffee table in the middle of the room. Quinn held a small bag of tea lights, and passed half to Rachel and they set about placing them on all of the surfaces, lighting them as they went, Quinn occasionally swearing and lighting new matches. As the dim light in the room grew, and Brittany drew back, everyone felt more at ease. The chattering started up again as Quinn worked clockwise round the room and Rachel went anti-clockwise. Brittany nudged Santana as the two girls by the stage at the far end of the room, and they both peered over, attempting to be subtle. Santana flashed a glance at Finn, but he was now deep in conversation with Puck and Artie.

Turning her attention back to the two girls at the far end, she saw Rachel hold out the last candle to Quinn with a nervous smile, who lit it with the match she was holding. Their eyes met over the small tea-light and Rachel grinned, bringing the candle down, and leaning her head forwards to blow out the match before it burnt the blonde's fingers. Brittany squeezed Santana's hand with excitement and Santana glanced sideways at her, meeting her eyes with a raised eyebrow eyebrow before turning again. Quinn smiled back and muttered a small thanks before clearing her throat and turning to set the candle down. Rachel paused, and as she turned back to the group, perching on the sofa next to Mercedes, Santana could have sworn she saw Quinn shake her head slightly, and when the blonde turned her hazel eyes met her own.

She copied Quinn's earlier actions, tilting her head to the side with a smirk and a questioning eyebrow, and she winked smugly when she saw Quinn's face flush red. Brittany elbowed her and she dragged her satisfied smile away from the other blonde "Be nice" the taller girl muttered, before grinning at her. Santana's eyes lit up and she grinned back "Well...who'd have thought it?" Brittany chuckled.

"She'd better not." Santana frowned as they spoke in low tones, ensuring no one could listen in

"Why? They could be cute. Better than Finchel" Brittany grimaced and Santana nodded

"Still though. No way can Q stoop that low. Besides, imagine taking her on a date, she'd have to lift Berry up every curb"

"She's not _that_ small!"

"She reaches, like, your waist." Santana reasoned and Brittany giggled, before Quinn sauntered over to sit on the arm of the sofa, next to Santana

"Hey, what's the gossip?" She said pointedly, "I'd hate to interrupt my two favourite _girlfriends_" she challenged in a loud voice, and Santana glared at her

"No, we're just talking about the black out" she raised her voice to match Quinn's, "you know, the ambience...the _romance_ of it all" she raised an eyebrow and Quinn rolled her eyes

"The eyebrow's my move. You can't pull it off" Quinn muttered to her as she turned to join the group's conversation, and Santana and Brittany laughed before turning their attention back to the group. After another half an hour it had become clear that the power would not be back on any time soon, and everyone's buzz was starting to wear off. Brittany's head had dropped onto Santana's a while ago, and the brunette was growing restless. She wasn't used to having Brittany so close whilst having to control her wandering hands. She lifted her shoulder, and Brittany raised her head to meet her eyes. She twitched her head back and the blonde twisted her face, glancing around the room and thinking, before turning back with an accepting nod.

"Okay, well, as fun as all this was, we're gonna head out. Your company was mildly acceptable in the dark, but now that I can see all of your faces again I'm finding this party much harder for my gag reflex to deal with." Santana stood and smiled sweetly

"What she means is; Thanks for having us Rachel, it was pretty fun, and it was good to see you all again. We'll catch up with you all later in the summer probably"

Everyone called out their goodbyes, and Puck jumped up for a hug. Santana glared at him and he pulled a mildly offended, innocent face. She pulled him into a quick hug, and he gave her a squeeze, Brittany slapping the back of his hand as it started to wander down the brunette's back, glaring at him over Santana's shoulder.

"Okay, see you guys!" Santana called and Brittany took her hand and led her up the stairs, each grabbing one of the larger candles near the door as hey left. They let themselves out of the house and Brittany took Santana's hat, placing it on her own heard as they started to wander down the darkened street. Although night had well and truly settled, thankfully the moon was fairly bright, awarding them more light than just the two candles, as they walked through the streets, hand-in hand.

"You are _so_ bad!" Brittany chastised as she swung their hands between them

"Whatever, that was hilarious, and I was _not _going to just sit there bored while they were all vulnerable. You forced me to go to that party, so I was going to have some fun" she gave Brittany a sidelong smirk and the blonde shook her head

"So you had a good time then?" the taller girl tilted her head back to stare up at the stars, and Santana watched her before answering, smiling as she watched Brittany's eyes dart across the sky in search of familiar constellations,

"It could have been a lot worse, I suppose. I survived" she shrugged before gazing up with Brittany

"And what about Q, huh? You cannot tell me that she isn't harbouring a secret little crush right now" Brittany raised her head back up to look at Santana, and swerved to walk along the curb, her arms outstretched for balance

"I know, right? I honestly never would have seen it." She shook her head "Weird"

"Really? I dunno. There's something about the way she talks about Rachel. I kind of had a hunch but I though I was just imagining things" the blonde shrugged and fell off the curb as Santana stared open-mouthed

"What, and you didn't tell me?" she stepped ahead and turned to face the blonde, walking backwards

"I thought it was just my imagination so I didn't say anything! I never thought I'd be right! Besides, Rachel's with Finn, no matter how much they want to deny it"

"I suppose. Sucks to be Q" she shrugged and turned to walk forward, and as she turned she realised she had sorely misjudged her distances. Her forehead smacked directly into the cold metal of the lamppost as her arms swung forward with momentum, and she let out a small cry. Brittany recoiled with shock, her eyes and mouth wide open with an expression of sheer horror mixed with amusement

"Ohhhh my God, are you okay?" She winced and reached forward to place an arm around Santana's shoulders, stifling a giggle, as the brunette curled forward, her head in her hand

"Nope. Not at all." She stood up, her expression one of pain and amusement. Brittany was glad the brunette was laughing at herself, as it was becoming increasingly hard not to as she replayed the scene in her head "Oh my God, who put that there? Is it bad?" she grimaced at the blonde as she pulled her hand away

Brittany held the candle up to her face, frowning as she used her free hand to push Santana's hair back "Looks like you'll get a bump. And there's a little scratch"

"Is my perfect face ruined?" Santana smiled and Brittany chuckled

"Nah, we'll just give you a scarf and some glasses and call you Harry Potter" the blonde shook her head before kissing the bump gently

"Perfect." Santana grunted dramatically, raising her eyes to the heavens. She frowned as they carried on walking, and Brittany placed an arm around her shoulders again, the brunette nestling in to the crook of her neck. The taller girl giggled and Santana mumbled into her neck "What?"

"I can't believe you just walked into a post..."she stopped to giggle again and Santana smiled, blushing as she pulled back to look at the blonde "...and people think _I'm_ the dumb one!"

"Hey! It was an accident!" She pouted, but giggled with Brittany as she thought of how ridiculous it really was "Besides, it was your fault for dishing the news on Q! You distracted me!" Brittany rolled her eyes and nodded, and they spent the rest of the journey in happy silence, the blonde pulling Santana away vigorously any time she got close to a lamp-post, occasionally kicking them as if to fight them off "Get back! I said get away! Don't you dare!" causing Santana to giggle through her self-consciousness.

They arrived back at Brittany's house, to find the house silent. Mrs Peirce had left a short note saying they had gone to bed when the blackout hit, and instructing them to the location of torches and candles if the power wasn't back on by the time they returned. They dug out the candles and Santana lit and placed them around Brittany's room as the blonde took a quick shower.

Brittany appeared at the door, and spoke in a mock southern accent "Well my my my, Miss, this is all very...romantic" she was wearing nothing but a large night shirt and had one hand on Santana's hat, pulled low over her eyes,

Santana giggled "Well, only the best for ma man" Santana tossed her curly hair as she replied coyly, fluttering her eyelashes and pouting at the blonde. Brittany stepped across and took her hand, pulling her in to her to a kiss, wrapping her arms around the brunette's waist. Santana placed her hands on the girl's shirt, holding her close by the collar before pulling away, and speaking breathlessly "Take me, sheriff, we may only have tonight" she whispered dramatically and Brittany laughed, pushing her down on the bed and bending to kiss her neck. After a few moments, Santana placed two fingers under her chin and tilted her head up to look her in the eyes, speaking in her normal voice once again, "and just so you know, sheriff, the game ends there"

Brittany laughed and bent to give her a long slow kiss, "I have been waiting for that _all _night. Those damn glee kids just never look away do they? So many prying eyes!" Santana grinned and pulled her back into another kiss, and they didn't speak again for a long time.

As they lay naked in each other arms, Brittany spoke again "I can't help thinking of Rachel right now"

"Okay you did not just say that..." Santana's eyes grew wide as she gave a nervous chuckle, "Not a great time to be thinking of man hands"

"No! No not like that. It's just that...this is a total fire hazard."

Santana rolled her eyes.


End file.
